Reply by Kenny

Snipe sucks, but it’s just reality with the lunch box planers. I have a pretty nice and new Craftsman with the granite bed and infeed and outfeed tables. I have adjusted them up as Gfadvm has, and it helps a good bit.

BUT, there is a sure shot and easy way to eliminate it completely. It is a pain in the rear, but when I’m planing expensive exotic wood, I sure don’t want to lose 5” to snipe! And when I’m doing segmented turning, I need my stock perfect, any error will be felt and seen in the final product.

What you need to do, is to keep some really cheap stock on hand at all times. I normally use the cheap “white-wood” pre-surfaced crap from Lowes. I will then take and rip a strip as wide as the stock I want to plane is thick and 25” long (you will need one 25” piece for each piece of stock you’re planing). Now, I cut the strip into four pieces 6” long.

Now, I normally get about 2-1/2” of snipe on each end. So, I mark the center of my waste strips, apply 3 drops of CA glue to one edge of each strip from the line to the end, and glue them to the ends of the board I’m planing, one on each side of the keeper board, 2 on each end, and leave 3” of the waste wood overhanging the keeper piece.

What you will end up with on the piece you’re planing, is 2 pieces on each end of the waste wood, one on each side of the board, and they should extend 3” beyond the end of the keeper board.

Now, when you plane the board, the waste wood will be what snipes, the whole keeper piece will be dead flat and smooth.I’ve done this many, many times, and I’ve never had any issues at all. If you use really porous wood, you may want to add a couple more drops of CA. But go easy! That CA bonds really well. When you’re done planing, take a hammer and knock the waste pieces off. You’ll have a couple dots of CA with some of the waste wood stuck to it, but it’s easy to clean off with a scraper or a chisel. And a lot better than wasting 5” or 6” of expensive wood!

If you have any trouble understanding this, let me know and I will demonstrate with pictures and a better description.